Uplink (UL) transmission with flexible starting positions for new radio-unlicensed (NR-U)

ABSTRACT

Wireless communications systems and methods related to uplink (UL) communications in a wireless network are provided. In some instances, a wireless communication device is configured to: transmit, to a second wireless communication device, a transmission grant indicating a transmission period; transmit a configuration indicating a plurality of reference signal symbols within the transmission period and an association between a plurality of starting locations and the plurality of reference signal symbols; monitor, in response to the transmission grant, for a communication signal from the second wireless communication device in the transmission period; and identify, upon detection of the communication signal, a starting location of the communication signal from among the plurality of starting locations within the transmission period.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/662,984, filed Oct. 24, 2019, which claims priority to andthe benefit of Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 201841040759,filed Oct. 29, 2018, each of which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicablepurposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to wireless communication systems, and moreparticularly to uplink (UL) communications in a wireless network overspectrum shared by multiple network operating entities.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wirelessmultiple-access communications system may include a number of basestations (BSs), each simultaneously supporting communications formultiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as userequipment (UE).

To meet the growing demands for expanded mobile broadband connectivity,wireless communication technologies are advancing from the LTEtechnology to a next generation new radio (NR) technology. For example,NR is designed to provide a lower latency, a higher bandwidth orthroughput, and a higher reliability than LTE. NR is designed to operateover a wide array of spectrum bands, for example, from low-frequencybands below about 1 gigahertz (GHz) and mid-frequency bands from about 1GHz to about 6 GHz, to high-frequency bands such as millimeter wave(mmWave) bands. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrumtypes, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed and shared spectrum.Spectrum sharing enables operators to opportunistically aggregatespectrums to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Spectrumsharing can extend the benefit of NR technologies to operating entitiesthat may not have access to a licensed spectrum.

One approach to avoiding collisions when communicating in a sharedspectrum or an unlicensed spectrum is to use a listen-before-talk (LBT)procedure to ensure that the shared channel is clear before transmittinga signal in the shared channel. The operations or deployments of NR inan unlicensed spectrum is referred to as NR-U. In NR-U, a BS mayschedule a UE for an uplink (UL) transmission over an unlicensedfrequency band in a certain time period and the UE may perform an LBTprior to the scheduled time period. However, depending on the outcome ofthe UE's LBT, the UE may or may not be able to transmit according thescheduled time period.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

For example, in an aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, by a first wireless communicationdevice from a second wireless communication device, a transmission grantindicating a transmission period; selecting, by the first wirelesscommunication device, a starting location for transmitting acommunication signal from among a plurality of starting locations withinthe transmission period; and transmitting, by the first wirelesscommunication device to the second wireless communication device inresponse to the transmission grant, the communication signal during thetransmission period based on the selected starting location.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes transmitting, by a first wireless communicationdevice to a second wireless communication device, a transmission grantindicating a transmission period; monitoring, by the first wirelesscommunication device in response to the transmission grant, for acommunication signal from the second wireless communication device inthe transmission period; and identifying, by the first wirelesscommunication device upon detection of the communication signal, astarting location of the communication signal from among a plurality ofstarting locations within the transmission period.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication device includes communicating, by a first wirelesscommunication device with a second wireless communication device, aconfiguration indicating a plurality of random access opportunitieswithin a transmission period, the plurality of random accessopportunities beginning at different starting time locations and atleast partially overlapping with each other in time; and communicating,by the first wireless communication device with the second wirelesscommunication device, a random access preamble signal during a firstrandom access opportunity of the plurality of random accessopportunities.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes aprocessor configured to select a starting location for transmitting acommunication signal from among a plurality of starting locations withina transmission period; and a transceiver configured to receive, from afirst wireless communication device, a transmission grant indicating thetransmission period; and transmit, to the first wireless communicationdevice in response to the transmission grant, the communication signalduring the transmission period based on the selected starting location.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an uplink (UL) communication scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station (BS) according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for an uplink (UL) transmissionaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a reference signal configuration with a varyingtime-density according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a communication scheme that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a signaling diagram illustrating a communication methodaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a random access preamble transmission scheme thatprovisions multiple random access opportunities for a random accessoccasions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates a random access preamble signal configurationaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a signaling diagram illustrating a random access preambletransmission method 1500 according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a random access method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownstructures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring such concepts.

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications systems,also referred to as wireless communications networks. In variousembodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wirelesscommunication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA)networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA)networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSMnetworks, 5^(th) Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as well asother communications networks. As described herein, the terms “networks”and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and thelike. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project”(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These variousradio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. Forexample, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is acollaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for thenext generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wirelesstechnologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access towireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new anddifferent radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals,further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition todevelopment of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NRwill be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internetof things (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates),and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having acommon, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services andfeatures with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex(TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wirelesstechnologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO),robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding,and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR,with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operatingdiverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. Forexample, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz,for example over 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth (BW). For othervarious outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz BW. Forother various indoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over theunlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occurwith 60 kHz over a 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deploymentstransmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrierspacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz BW.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

The present application describes mechanisms to provision multipleflexible starting transmission positions for an uplink (UL) transmissionin a shared spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. In the disclosedembodiments, a BS configures a UE with a reference signal configurationand a rule for identifying allowable starting transmission positions.The reference signal configuration indicates symbols within a slot thatare allocated for reference signal transmissions. In addition, thereference signal configuration may indicate a different scramblingsequence for a reference signal transmission at each starting position.The BS may grant a UE for a UL transmission in one or more transmissionslots (e.g., a time period) over the spectrum. The UE may identify theallowable starting positions in the allocated time period based on therule. The UE may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) in the spectrumbased on the allocated time period. Depending on the time when the UEpasses an LBT, the UE may identify a starting position from among theallowable starting positions. The UE may transmit a UL communicationsignal beginning at the identified starting position. The UE may includeone or more reference signals in the UL communication signal based onthe reference signal configuration. The UE may also use a differentscrambling sequence, from the configuration, for the reference signalsdepending on the starting position.

In an embodiment, the rule associates the allowable starting ULtransmission positions with locations of the configured reference signalsymbols. The rule can further associate the allowable starting ULtransmission positions with the number of reference signal symbolswithin a slot. In an embodiment, the BS may control the timing and thenumber of allowable starting positions by varying the reference signalsymbol locations and/or time-density. In such an embodiment, the BS maydetect the presence of a UL communication signal from the UE based onreference signal monitoring at the configured reference signal symbols.The BS may determine a starting location of the UL communication signalbased on the configured rule.

In another embodiment, the rule allows a UE to begin a UL transmissionat any symbol within an allocated time period. To assist BS detection,the UL communication signal can include information (e.g., uplinkcontrol information (UCI)) about the transmission (e.g., the startingsymbol) or include a preamble signal at the beginning of the ULcommunication signal. In such an embodiment, the BS may receive the ULcommunication based on UCI monitoring or preamble signal monitoring. Insome instances, the UL communication signal may span multiple slots andmay start at a time after a last reference signal symbol in a first slotof the multiple slots. As such, the BS may not receive any referencesignal in the first slot. However, the BS may receive a reference signalin a subsequent slot. As such, the BS may recover data from the portionof the UL communication signal received in the first slot based on achannel response estimated from the reference signal received in thesubsequent slot. In an embodiment, the preamble signal can include asignal pattern that can be used for channel estimation by the BS.

In an embodiment, the BS may provision for multiple random accessopportunities for a random access occasion. The multiple random accessopportunities may begin at different time locations and may at leastpartially overlap with each other in time. In other words, the randomaccess opportunities may have different durations. The UE may perform anLBT in the spectrum. Depending on the time when the UE passes an LBT,the UE may transmit a random access preamble signal using one of therandom access opportunities. The BS may configure the UE with a randomaccess preamble signal format for a particular random accessconfiguration and may allow the UE to use a full version or a truncatedversion of the random access preamble signal format depending on theselected random access opportunity. The BS may configure the randomaccess preamble signal formats based on whether the random accessoccasion is within a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the BS oroutside a TXOP of the BS.

Aspects of the present application can provide several benefits. Forexample, the multiple flexible starting locations for UL datatransmissions and/or random access can provide a UE with moretransmission opportunities in case the UE is initially gated by an LBTand passes an LBT at a later time within the allocated time period orthe random access occasion time period. The association of the startinglocations with the reference signal symbols, the inclusion of the UCI ina UL communication signal, or the inclusion of the preamble signal in aUL communication signal can reduce search or monitoring complexity atthe BS.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 100 may be a 5Gnetwork. The network 100 includes a number of base stations (BSs) 105and other network entities. A BS 105 may be a station that communicateswith UEs 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (eNB), anext generation eNB (gNB), an access point, and the like. Each BS 105may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to this particular geographic coveragearea of a BS 105 and/or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area,depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a smallcell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. Amacro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, suchas a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smaller geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptionswith the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, wouldalso generally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restrictedaccess by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like).A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a smallcell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS or ahome BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the BSs 105 d and 105 e may beregular macro BSs, while the BSs 105 a-105 c may be macro BSs enabledwith one of three dimension (3D), full dimension (HD), or massive MIMO.The BSs 105 a-105 c may take advantage of their higher dimension MIMOcapabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuthbeamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The BS 105 f may be asmall cell BS which may be a home node or portable access point. A BS105 may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like)cells.

The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. Forsynchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time.For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and eachUE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to asa terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like.A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE 115 may be a devicethat includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In anotheraspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In someaspects, the UEs 115 that do not include UICCs may also be referred toas IoT devices or internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115a-115 d are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices accessingnetwork 100. A UE 115 may also be a machine specifically configured forconnected communication, including machine type communication (MTC),enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115e-115 k are examples of various machines configured for communicationthat access the network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate withany type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like. In FIG.1 , a lightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wirelesstransmissions between a UE 115 and a serving BS 105, which is a BSdesignated to serve the UE 115 on the downlink and/or uplink, or desiredtransmission between BSs, and backhaul transmissions between BSs.

In operation, the BSs 105 a-105 c may serve the UEs 115 a and 115 busing 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques, such ascoordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. The macro BS 105 dmay perform backhaul communications with the BSs 105 a-105 c, as well assmall cell, the BS 105 f. The macro BS 105 d may also transmitsmulticast services which are subscribed to and received by the UEs 115 cand 115 d. Such multicast services may include mobile television orstream video, or may include other services for providing communityinformation, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alertsor gray alerts.

The network 100 may also support mission critical communications withultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such asthe UE 115 e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links withthe UE 115 e may include links from the macro BSs 105 d and 105 e, aswell as links from the small cell BS 105 f. Other machine type devices,such as the UE 115 f (e.g., a thermometer), the UE 115 g (e.g., smartmeter), and UE 115 h (e.g., wearable device) may communicate through thenetwork 100 either directly with BSs, such as the small cell BS 105 f,and the macro BS 105 e, or in multi-hop configurations by communicatingwith another user device which relays its information to the network,such as the UE 115 f communicating temperature measurement informationto the smart meter, the UE 115 g, which is then reported to the networkthrough the small cell BS 105 f. The network 100 may also provideadditional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDDcommunications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)

In some implementations, the network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveformsfor communications. An OFDM-based system may partition the system BWinto multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonlyreferred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacingbetween adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number ofsubcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system BW. The system BW mayalso be partitioned into subbands. In other instances, the subcarrierspacing and/or the duration of TTIs may be scalable.

In an embodiment, the BSs 105 can assign or schedule transmissionresources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RB)) fordownlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in the network 100. DLrefers to the transmission direction from a BS 105 to a UE 115, whereasUL refers to the transmission direction from a UE 115 to a BS 105. Thecommunication can be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may bedivided into a plurality of subframes, for example, about 10. Eachsubframe can be divided into slots, for example, about 2. Each slot maybe further divided into mini-slots. In a FDD mode, simultaneous UL andDL transmissions may occur in different frequency bands. For example,each subframe includes a UL subframe in a UL frequency band and a DLsubframe in a DL frequency band. In a TDD mode, UL and DL transmissionsoccur at different time periods using the same frequency band. Forexample, a subset of the subframes (e.g., DL subframes) in a radio framemay be used for DL transmissions and another subset of the subframes(e.g., UL subframes) in the radio frame may be used for ULtransmissions.

The DL subframes and the UL subframes can be further divided intoseveral regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may havepre-defined regions for transmissions of reference signals, controlinformation, and data. Reference signals are predetermined signals thatfacilitate the communications between the BSs 105 and the UEs 115. Forexample, a reference signal can have a particular pilot pattern orstructure, where pilot tones may span across an operational BW orfrequency band, each positioned at a pre-defined time and a pre-definedfrequency. For example, a BS 105 may transmit cell specific referencesignals (CRSs) and/or channel state information—reference signals(CSI-RSs) to enable a UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, a UE115 may transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to enable a BS 105 toestimate a UL channel Control information may include resourceassignments and protocol controls. Data may include protocol data and/oroperational data. In some embodiments, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 maycommunicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframemay include a portion for DL communication and a portion for ULcommunication. A self-contained subframe can be DL-centric orUL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for DLcommunication than for UL communication. A UL-centric subframe mayinclude a longer duration for UL communication than for ULcommunication.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed over alicensed spectrum. The BSs 105 can transmit synchronization signals(e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS)) in the network 100 to facilitatesynchronization. The BSs 105 can broadcast system information associatedwith the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB),remaining minimum system information (RMSI), and other systeminformation (OSI)) to facilitate initial network access. In someinstances, the BSs 105 may broadcast the PSS, the SSS, and/or the MIB inthe form of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) over a physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) and may broadcast the RMSI and/or the OSI overa physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

In an embodiment, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 mayperform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS from a BS 105. The PSSmay enable synchronization of period timing and may indicate a physicallayer identity value. The UE 115 may then receive a SSS. The SSS mayenable radio frame synchronization, and may provide a cell identityvalue, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value toidentify the cell. The SSS may also enable detection of a duplexing modeand a cyclic prefix length. Some systems, such as TDD systems, maytransmit an SSS but not a PSS. Both the PSS and the SSS may be locatedin a central portion of a carrier, respectively.

After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a MIB. The MIBmay include system information for initial network access and schedulinginformation for RMSI and/or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 mayreceive RMSI and/or OSI. The RMSI and/or OSI may include radio resourcecontrol (RRC) information related to random access channel (RACH)procedures, paging, control resource set (CORESET) for physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical uplink control channel(PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, SRS, andcell barring.

After obtaining the MIB, the RMSI and/or the OSI, the UE 115 can performa random access procedure to establish a connection with the BS 105. Forthe random access procedure, the UE 115 may transmit a random accesspreamble and the BS 105 may respond with a random access response. Uponreceiving the random access response, the UE 115 may transmit aconnection request to the BS 105 and the BS 105 may respond with aconnection response (e.g., contention resolution message).

After establishing a connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105 can enter anormal operation stage, where operational data may be exchanged. Forexample, the BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL and/or DLcommunications. The BS 105 may transmit UL and/or DL scheduling grantsto the UE 115 via a PDCCH. The BS 105 may transmit a DL communicationsignal to the UE 115 via a PDSCH according to a DL scheduling grant. TheUE 115 may transmit a UL communication signal to the BS 105 via a PUSCHand/or PUCCH according to a UL scheduling grant.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may operate over a system BW or acomponent carrier (CC) BW. The network 100 may partition the system BWinto multiple BWPs (e.g., portions). A BS 105 may dynamically assign aUE 115 to operate over a certain BWP (e.g., a certain portion of thesystem BW). The assigned BWP may be referred to as the active BWP. TheUE 115 may monitor the active BWP for signaling information from the BS105. The BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL or DL communications inthe active BWP. In some embodiments, a BS 105 may assign a pair of BWPswithin the CC to a UE 115 for UL and DL communications. For example, theBWP pair may include one BWP for UL communications and one BWP for DLcommunications.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may operate over a shared channel,which may include shared frequency bands or unlicensed frequency bands.In such an embodiment, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 may be operated bymultiple network operating entities. To avoid collisions, the BSs 105and the UEs 115 may employ a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure tomonitor for transmission opportunity (TXOP) in the shared channel. Forexample, a BS 105 may perform an LBT in the shared channel. When the LBTpasses, the BS 105 may schedule a UE 115 for communications over theshared channel.

FIG. 2 illustrates a UL communication scheme 200 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 2 , the x-axis representstime in some constant units and the y-axis represents frequency in someconstant units. The scheme 200 may be employed by BSs such as the BSs105 and UEs such as the UEs 115 in a network such as the network 100 tocommunicate with each other over a frequency channel 202. The frequencychannel 202 may be within a shared spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum.The frequency channel 202 may be located at any suitable frequencies.For example, the frequency channel 202 may be located at about 3.5 GHz,sub-6 GHz, or at mmWave frequencies. As described above, an LBT isrequired prior to a transmission in a shared frequency band orunlicensed frequency band and a UE may or may not be able to transmitaccording to a scheduled time depending on the outcome of the LBT.Accordingly, the scheme 200 schedules UL data transmissions in units ofslots 204 and supports half-slot level resolution for starting a UL datatransmission. The UL data transmission may be referred to as a PUSCHtransmission.

Each slot 204 includes a plurality of symbols 206. The number of symbols206 within a slot 204 may vary depending on the embodiments. In someembodiments, each slot 204 may include about 14 symbols 206 (e.g., in anormal cyclic prefix (NCP) mode) and may span a duration of about 1millisecond (ms). In some other embodiments, each slot 204 may includeabout 12 symbols 206 (e.g., in an extended cyclic prefix (ECP) mode) andmay span a duration of about 1 ms. Each slot 204 may be time-partitionedinto a first half-slot 208 a and a second half-slot 208 b.

One or more of the symbols 206 within a slot 204 may be allocated fortransmissions of reference signals 210. The symbols 206 allocated forreference signal transmissions are shown as 206 r. The reference signals210 may be referred to as demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). Thereference signals 210 may include pilot symbols distributed across thefrequency channel 202. The pilot symbols may be generated from apredetermined sequence with a certain pattern. The remaining symbols 206may carry UL data. The reference signals 210 allows a receiver todetermine a channel estimate for the frequency channel 202, where thechannel estimate may be used to recover the UL data. The number ofreference signal symbols 206 r and/or the locations of the referencesignal symbols 206 r within a slot 204 may vary depending on theembodiments.

In an example, a BS allocates two slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎ for a UE totransmit a UL communication signal 220. The BS may provide the UE with ascheduling grant indicating the allocated slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎. Inaddition, the BS may indicate to the UE that a UL transmission may startat a slot boundary (e.g., shown by the arrows 230) or at a half-slotboundary (shown by the arrows 232).

The UE may perform LBTs 240 at the slot boundaries and/or at thehalf-slot boundaries. The LBT 240 may be based on energy detection orsignal detection (e.g., detecting a particular preamble signal or acertain sequence pattern). In one scenario 250, the UE fails the LBTs240 in the slot 204 ₍₁₎ as shown by the “X” marks, but passes the LBT240 at the boundary of the slot 204 ₍₂₎ as shown by the checkmark. Afterpassing the LBT 240 at the boundary of the slot 204 ₍₂₎, the UEtransmits a UL communication signal 220 a beginning at the slot boundaryof the slot 204 ₍₂₎. The UL communication signal 220 a includesreference signals 210 at the reference signal symbols 206 r and UL data222 at the remaining symbols 206.

In another scenario 252, the UE fails the LBTs 240 in the slot 204 ₍₁₎and the LBT 240 at the slot boundary of the slot 204 ₍₂₎ as shown by the“X” mark, but passes the LBT 240 at the half-slot boundary of the slot204 ₍₂₎ as shown by the checkmark. The LBT 240 at the half-slot boundaryof the slot 204 ₍₂₎ is a pass. After passing the LBT 240 at thehalf-slot boundary of the slot 204 ₍₂₎, the UE transmits a ULcommunication signal 220 b beginning at the half-slot boundary of theslot 204 ₍₂₎. The UL communication signal 220 b includes a referencesignal 210 at the reference signal symbol 206 r in the half-slot 208 bof the slot 204 ₍₂₎ and UL data 222 in the remaining symbols 206.

If the LBT 240 at the half-slot boundary of the slot 204 ₍₂₎ fails, theUE may not transmit a UL communication signal to the BS even though theBS has scheduled the UE for a UL transmission.

The BS may perform blind detection at the reference signal symbols 206 rto determine whether a reference signal 210 is received from the UE.Based on the reference signal detection, the BS can determine whetherthe UE did transmit the UL communication signal 220. For example, if theBS detects a reference signal 210 at the reference signal symbol 206 rof the first half-slot 208 a, the BS can determine that the UE uses thefull slot 204 for the transmission. If the BS fails to detect areference signal 210 at the reference signal symbol 206 r of the firsthalf-slot 208 a, but detected a reference signal 210 at the referencesignal symbol 206 r of the second half-slot 208 b, the BS can determinethat the UE uses the second half-slot 208 b for the transmission.

In an embodiment, upon receiving the scheduling grant, the UE maygenerate a transport block (TB) based on the allocated resources (e.g.,in the slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎). For example, the UE may performrate-matching based on the resources in the two allocated slots 204 ₍₁₎and 204 ₍₂₎. Depending on the LBT 240 outcomes, the UE may or may nottransmit the entire TB as generated. If an LBT pass occur at a latertime (e.g., at the half-slot boundary), the UE can puncture or drop theportion of the TB that is mapped to the symbols 206 in the firsthalf-slot 208 a and only transmit the portion of the TB that are mappedto the symbols 206 (e.g., in the second half-slot 208 b) after passingthe LBT 240. The use of puncturing due to a late start for thetransmission can keep the UE complexity low without having the UE tore-generate the TB after passing an LBT 240.

In an embodiment, a BS may indicate to a UE whether a half-slottransmission is allowed or not via an RRC configuration. The BS mayindicate a scheduling grant to the UE via downlink control information(DCI) in a PDCCH. The UE may perform one or more LBTs 240 based on theRRC configuration and scheduling grant.

While the scheme 200 allows a UL transmission to begin at a half-slotboundary, the preconfigured allowable starting positions may not beflexible and may not utilize the spectrum resource efficiently.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques to provisionmultiple flexible starting positions for each UL transmission based oncertain rules and/or with certain signaling without significantlyincreasing the detection complexity at the BS.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 300 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 300 may be a UE 115 in thenetwork 100 as discussed above in FIG. 1 . As shown, the UE 300 mayinclude a processor 302, a memory 304, a communication module 308, atransceiver 310 including a modem subsystem 312 and a radio frequency(RF) unit 314, and one or more antennas 316. These elements may be indirect or indirect communication with each other, for example via one ormore buses.

The processor 302 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device,another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereofconfigured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 302may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The memory 304 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 302), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memorydevice, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment,the memory 304 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 304 may store instructions 306. The instructions 306 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 302, cause theprocessor 302 to perform the operations described herein with referenceto the UEs 115 in connection with embodiments of the present disclosure,for example, aspects of FIGS. 2, 5-16, and 18 . Instructions 306 mayalso be referred to as code. The terms “instructions” and “code” shouldbe interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readablestatement(s). For example, the terms “instructions” and “code” may referto one or more programs, routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures,etc. “Instructions” and “code” may include a single computer-readablestatement or many computer-readable statements.

The communication module 308 may be implemented via hardware, software,or combination thereof. For example, the communication module 308 may beimplemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 306 stored inthe memory 304 and executed by the processor 302. The communicationmodule 308 may be used for various aspects of the present disclosure,for example, aspects of FIGS. 2, 5-16, and 18 . For example, thecommunication module 308 is configured to receive from a BS (e.g., theBSs 105) reference signal configurations, scheduling grants, and/orrules for identifying flexible starting positions for UL datatransmissions, performs LBTs (e.g., the LBTs 240), communicate with theBS based on the scheduling grants and the LBTs, and determine startingpositions for UL data transmissions to the BS based on the rules.

The reference signal configurations may indicate locations of referencesignal symbols (e.g., the reference signal symbols 206 r) in a slot(e.g., the slots 204). In an embodiment, the flexible starting positionsmay be dependent on the locations of the reference signal symbols withina slot and/or the number of reference signal symbols within a slot.Thus, the communication module 308 is configured to determine a startingposition for a UL data transmission based on the locations of thereference signal symbols within a slot and/or the number of referencesignal symbols within a slot.

In an embodiment, the flexible starting positions may be any symbolwithin a slot. The communication module 308 is configured to transmitadditional information to assist the BS in locating or detecting a ULtransmission from the UE 300. For example, the communication module 308is configured to transmit uplink control information (UCI) along with aUL data transmission to indicate information (e.g., the startingposition) associated with the UL transmission. Alternatively, thecommunication module 308 is configured to transmit a preamble signal atthe beginning of the UL transmission marking the start of the UL datatransmission.

In an embodiment, the communication module 308 is configured to receivefrom a BS a random access configuration including multiple random accesstransmission opportunities beginning at different starting positionswithin a random access period, perform LBTs, and transmit a randomaccess preamble signal based on multiple random access transmissionopportunities and the LBTs. Mechanisms for transmitting UL data and/orrandom access preamble signals with multiple starting positions aredescribed in greater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 310 may include the modem subsystem 312 andthe RF unit 314. The transceiver 310 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the BSs 105. The modemsubsystem 312 may be configured to modulate and/or encode the data fromthe memory 304, and/or the communication module 308 according to amodulation and coding scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-density parity check(LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional codingscheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 314 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from themodem subsystem 312 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a UE 115 or a BS 105. The RFunit 314 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming inconjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integratedtogether in transceiver 310, the modem subsystem 312 and the RF unit 314may be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 toenable the UE 115 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 314 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 316 fortransmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 316 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antennas 316may provide the received data messages for processing and/ordemodulation at the transceiver 310. The antennas 316 may includemultiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustainmultiple transmission links. The RF unit 314 may configure the antennas316.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 400 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The BS 400 may be a BS 105, 205,or 305 as discussed above in FIG. 1 . A shown, the BS 400 may include aprocessor 402, a memory 404, a communication module 408, a transceiver410 including a modem subsystem 412 and a RF unit 414, and one or moreantennas 416. These elements may be in direct or indirect communicationwith each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 402 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 402 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 404 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 402), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 404 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 404 may store instructions 406. The instructions 406 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 402, cause theprocessor 402 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects of FIGS. 2, 5-15 , and 17-18. Instructions 406 may also bereferred to as code, which may be interpreted broadly to include anytype of computer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respectto FIG. 3 .

The communication module 408 may be implemented via hardware, software,or combination thereof. For example, the communication module 408 may beimplemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 406 stored inthe memory 404 and executed by the processor 402. The communicationmodule 408 may be used for various aspects of the present disclosure,for example, aspects of FIGS. 2, 5-15, and 17-18 . For example, thecommunication module 408 is configured to transmit to a UE (e.g., theUEs 115 and 300) reference signal configurations, scheduling grants,and/or rules for identifying flexible starting positions for UL datatransmissions, performs LBTs, scheduling the UE based on the LBTs,monitoring for the UE's UL transmissions based on the scheduling grants,the flexile staring positions, and/or the reference signalconfigurations.

The reference signal configurations may indicate locations of referencesignal symbols (e.g., the reference signal symbols 206 r) in a slot(e.g., the slots 204). In an embodiment, the flexible starting positionsmay be dependent on the locations of the reference signal symbols withina slot and/or the number of reference signal symbols within a slot.Thus, the communication module 408 is configured to monitor for areference signal from the UE at the reference signal symbols and upon adetection of a reference signal, determine a starting position for a ULdata transmission based on the locations of the reference signal symbolswithin a slot and/or the number of reference signal symbols within aslot.

In an embodiment, the flexible starting positions may be any symbolwithin a slot. The communication module 408 is configured to monitor foradditional information from the UE in locating or detecting a ULtransmission from the UE. For example, the communication module 308 isconfigured to monitor for uplink control information (UCI) that istransmitted along with a UL data transmission by the UE to indicateinformation (e.g., the starting position) associated with the ULtransmission. Alternatively, the communication module 408 is configuredto monitor for aa preamble signal marking the beginning of a ULtransmission from the UE.

In an embodiment, the communication module 408 is configured to transmitto a random access configuration including multiple random accesstransmission opportunities beginning at different starting positionswithin a random access period and/or monitor for a random accesspreamble signal from a UE based on the multiple random accesstransmission opportunities. Mechanisms for configuring a UE withmultiple flexible starting positions for UL transmission and/ormonitoring for UL data signals and/or random access preamble signalsfrom a UE are described in greater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 410 may include the modem subsystem 412 andthe RF unit 414. The transceiver 410 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the UEs 115 and/or anothercore network element. The modem subsystem 412 may be configured tomodulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., a LDPC codingscheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digitalbeamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 414 may be configured to process(e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analogconversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 412(on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from anothersource such as a UE 115 or 400. The RF unit 414 may be furtherconfigured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with the digitalbeamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 410,the modem subsystem 412 and/or the RF unit 414 may be separate devicesthat are coupled together at the BS 105 to enable the BS 105 tocommunicate with other devices.

The RF unit 414 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 416 fortransmission to one or more other devices. This may include, forexample, transmission of information to complete attachment to a networkand communication with a camped UE 115 or 400 according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. The antennas 416 may further receive datamessages transmitted from other devices and provide the received datamessages for processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 410. Theantennas 416 may include multiple antennas of similar or differentdesigns in order to sustain multiple transmission links.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate various UL transmission mechanisms with multipleflexible starting symbol location that are defined based on referencesignal symbol locations. In FIGS. 5-8 , the x-axes represent time insome constant units.

FIG. 5 illustrates a communication scheme 500 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 500 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 500 isillustrated using a similar slot structure as in the scheme 200, and mayuse the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 for simplicity sake. In thescheme 500, a BS may configure a set of N symbols 206 within a slot 204for transmitting a reference signal 210, where N may be any positiveinteger. The BS may allow for multiple flexible UL transmission startingpositions for each UL transmission. The BS may associate the flexible ULtransmission starting positions with the locations of the referencesignal symbols 206 r.

In an embodiment, the BS may allow for M flexible UL transmissionstarting positions, where M is a positive integer equal to or less thanN. Each flexible UL transmission starting position may be associatedwith one of the reference signal symbols 206 r. For example, eachflexible UL transmission starting position may be located at K symbol206 before a corresponding reference signal symbol 206 r, where K is apositive integer. As an example, N is about 3, M is about 3, and K isabout 1. Accordingly, a first starting position 512 may start one symbol206 prior to a first reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₁₎, a secondstarting position 522 may start one symbol 206 prior to a secondreference signal symbol 206 r ₍₂₎, and a third starting position 532 maystart one symbol 206 prior to a third reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₃₎.

In an embodiment, the BS may configure the UE with a reference signalconfiguration indicating the locations of the reference signal symbols206 r in a slot 204 via an RRC configuration or any configurationmessage. The BS may configure the UE with a rule for identifying themultiple flexible starting positions, for example, based on a certainsymbol offset (e.g., the value K) with respect to the reference signalsymbols 206 r. Alternatively, the BS may configure the UE with theflexible starting positions via an RRC configuration instead of a rulefor identifying the flexible starting positions. The BS may grant a UEwith a UL transmission in a slot 204 via a DCI indication in a PDCCH orany control message. In some embodiments, the DCI may additionallyindicate reference signal locations and/or a rule to for identifying thestarting positions.

The UE may perform M LBTs 240 prior to the flexible starting positions(e.g., the flexible starting positions 512, 522, and 532). In a scenario550, the UE performs an LBT 240 prior to the first flexible staringposition 512 and the LBT 240 is a pass as shown by the checkmark.Accordingly, the UE transmits a UL communication signal 510 using thefull slot 204. The UL communication signal 510 includes a referencesignals 210 (e.g., a DMRS) at each of the reference signal symbols 206 r₍₁₎, 206 r ₍₂₎, and 206 r ₍₃₎ and UL data 222 at the other symbols 206.

In another scenario 552, the UE fails an LBT 240 prior to the firstflexible staring position 522 as shown by the “X” mark, but passes anLBT 240 prior to the second flexible starting position 512 as shown bythe checkmark. Accordingly, the UE transmits a UL communication signal520 beginning at the second flexible starting position 522. The ULcommunication signal 520 includes a reference signal 210 at each of thereference signal symbols 206 r ₍₂₎ and 206 r ₍₃₎ and UL data 222 at theremaining symbols 206.

In yet another scenario 554, the UE fails LBTs 240 prior to the firstflexible staring position 512 and the second flexible starting position522 as shown by the “X” marks, but passes an LBT 240 prior to the thirdflexible starting position 532 as shown by the checkmark. Accordingly,the UE transmits a UL communication signal 530 beginning at the thirdflexible starting position 532. The UL communication signal 520 includesa reference signals 210 at the reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₃₎ and ULdata 222 at the remaining symbols 206.

The BS may perform blind detection at the reference signal symbols 206 r₍₁₎, 206 r ₍₂₎, and 206 r ₍₃₎ to determine whether a reference signal210 is received from the UE. When the BS detected a reference signal 210at each of the reference signal symbols 206 r ₍₁₎, 206 r ₍₂₎, and 206 r₍₃₎, the BS may determine that the UE uses the full slot 204 for the ULtransmission as shown in the scenario 550. In other words, the UEstarted the UL transmission at the full slot boundary. Alternatively,when the BS fails to detect a reference signal 210 at the referencesignal symbol 206 r ₍₁₎, but detected a reference signal 210 at each ofthe reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₂₎ and 206 r ₍₃₎, the BS maydetermine that the UE started the UL transmission at the startingposition 522 as shown in the scenario 552 based on the associationbetween the flexible starting position 522 and the reference signalsymbol 206 r ₍₂₎. Yet alternatively, when the BS detected a referencesignal 210 only at the reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₃₎, the BS maydetermine that the UE started the UL transmission at the startingposition 532 as shown in the scenario 554 based on the associationbetween the flexible starting position 532 and the reference signalsymbol 206 r ₍₃₎.

As can be seen, the BS may receive at least one reference signal 210 foreach UL transmission. Accordingly, the BS may determine a channelestimate based on one or more received reference signals 210 and recoverthe UL data 222 based on the channel estimate.

FIG. 6 illustrates a communication scheme 600 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 600 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 600 isillustrated using a similar slot structure as in the scheme 200, and mayuse the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 for simplicity sake. Thescheme 600 is substantially similar to the scheme 500. For example, inthe scheme 600, a BS may configure N symbols 206 within a slot 204 fortransmitting a reference signal 210 and may allow M flexible ULtransmission staring positions for each UL transmission based on anassociation with the reference signal symbols 206 r. However, in thescheme 600, each flexible starting position is time-aligned to one ofthe reference signal symbols 206 r. In other words, the scheme 600 usesa frontloaded reference signal (e.g., a frontloaded DMRS) for ULtransmissions. As shown, a first starting position 612 is time-alignedto a first reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₁₎, a second starting position622 is time-aligned to a second reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₂₎, and athird starting position 632 is time-aligned to a third reference signalsymbol 206 r ₍₃₎.

Similar to the scheme 500, the BS may configure a UE with a referencesignal configuration indicating the locations of the reference signalsymbols 206 r in a slot 204 via an RRC configuration or anyconfiguration message. The BS may configure the UE with multipleflexible starting positions corresponding to the locations of thereference signal symbols 206 r ₍₁₎, 206 r ₍₂₎, and 206 r ₍₃₎ or amapping between the flexible starting positions and the reference signalsymbols 206 r.

In a scenario 650, the UE passes an LBT 240 prior to the first flexiblestaring position 612 as shown by the checkmark and transmits a ULcommunication signal 610 (e.g., the UL communication signal 510) usingthe full slot 204.

In another scenario 652, the UE fails an LBT 240 prior to the firstflexible staring position 612 as shown by the “X” mark, but passes anLBT 240 prior to the second flexible starting position 622 as shown bythe checkmark. Accordingly, the UE transmits a UL communication signal620 (e.g., the UL communication signal 520) beginning at the secondflexible starting position 622.

In yet another scenario 654, the UE fails LBTs 240 prior to the firstflexible staring position 612 and the second flexible starting position622 as shown by the “X” marks, but passes an LBT 240 prior to the thirdflexible starting position 632 as shown by the checkmark. Accordingly,the UE transmits a UL communication signal 630 (e.g., the ULcommunication signal 530) beginning at the third flexible startingposition 632.

While FIG. 6 illustrates the first reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₁₎ tobe located at the slot boundary of the slot 204, in some embodiments,the first reference signal symbol 206 r ₍₁₎ can be located at the secondor third symbol 206 of the slot 204. In such embodiments, the firststarting position may still be kept at the slot boundary (e.g., thestarting position 612), but subsequent starting positions may begin atthe reference signal symbols 206 r ₍₂₎ and 206 r ₍₃₎.

In another embodiment, a BS may convey multiple flexible startingpositions for a UL transmission through a number of reference signalsymbols 206 r within a slot 204 in addition to the locations of thereference signal symbols 206 r

In general, the flexible starting positions (e.g., the flexible startingpositions 512, 522, 532, 612, 622, and 632) can be any symbol 206 beforea reference signal symbol 206 r, for example, with a fixed offset to areference signal symbol 206 r, as in the scheme 500 or time-aligned to areference signal symbol 206 r as in the scheme 600. A UE (e.g., the UEs115 and 300) may identify the flexible starting positions based on anassociation rule. The UE may select a starting position from among theflexible starting positions based on LBTs (e.g., the LBTs 240). A BS(e.g., the BSs 105 and 400) may monitor for a UL transmission from a UEbased on a blind detection for a reference signal 210 at referencesignal symbols 206 r. Upon a detection of a reference signal 210, the BSmay determine a starting position of the UL transmission based on theassociation rule.

FIG. 7 illustrates a reference signal configuration 700 with a varyingtime-density according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.The configuration 700 may be employed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400and UEs such as the UEs 115 and 300 in a network such as the network100. The configuration 700 is illustrated using a similar slot structureas in the scheme 200, and may use the same reference numerals as in FIG.2 for simplicity sake. The reference signal configuration 700 can beused in conjunction with the schemes 500 and 600. The configuration 700includes reference signal symbols 206 r distributed across multipleslots 204 in a UL burst 702 (e.g., a UL portion of a TXOP) with avarying time-density. The BS may configure a high reference signalsymbol 206 r density at the beginning of the UL burst 702. The highreference signal symbol 206 r density allows for more UL transmissionstarting opportunities at the beginning of the UL burst 702 (e.g., inthe slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎). The reference signal symbols 206 r canhave a lower time-density in later time of the UL burst 702 (e.g., inthe slots 204 ₍₃₎ and 204 ₍₄₎). For simplicity of illustration anddiscussion, FIG. 7 illustrates the possible UL transmission startingpositions 704 aligned to the slot boundaries and to the reference signalsymbols 204 r. However, the UL transmission starting positions 704 maybe alternatively configured to be at any suitable offsets from thereference signal symbols 204 r to achieve similar functionalities.

The decreasing reference signal symbol 206 r density is based on theassumption that more UL transmission starting opportunities may berequired at the beginning of a TXOP or UL burst and less UL transmissionstarting opportunities may be required at a later time in the TXOP orthe UL burst. In effect, the configuration 700 controls the density ofpossible UL transmission starting positions.

The use of a decreasing reference signal symbol 206 r density can allowfor more UL transmission opportunities at the beginning of an allocation(e.g., the UL burst 702) where a UE may be contending for a TXOP, butwithout increasing the overhead associated with reference signaltransmissions across all slots 204. For example, a BS may not requireall the reference signals for channel estimation at a later time in theallocation when the Doppler for the channel is low.

FIG. 8 illustrates a communication scheme 800 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 800 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 800 isillustrated using a similar slot structure as in the scheme 200, and mayuse the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 for simplicity sake. In thescheme 800, a BS applies the configuration 700 to configure referencesignal symbols 206 r with varying time-density. The BS may configure aUE with the configuration 700 via an RRC configuration. Similar to theschemes 500 and 600, the BS may configure the UE with multiple flexiblestarting positions for each UL transmission in association with thereference signal symbols 206 r by providing the UE with an associationrule or an indication of the locations of the reference signal symbols206 r.

In the scheme 800, a TXOP 802 includes a DL portion 804 and a UL portion806. The configuration 700 is applied to the UL portion 806 of the TXOP802. As an example, a BS may schedule a UE for a UL transmission in theslots 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎. When the UE receives the grant, the UE maydetermine a slot location of the granted slot 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎ withinthe UL portion 806. The UE may determine corresponding reference signalsymbols 206 r within the granted slots 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎ based on theconfiguration 700. After determining the reference signal symbols 206 rlocations within the granted slots 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎, the UE mayemploy similar mechanisms as in the schemes 500 and 600 to perform LBTs240 and determine a starting position for transmitting a ULcommunication signal 810 (e.g., the UL communication signals 510, 520,530, 610, 620, and 630) to the BS during the granted slots 204. Forexample, the UE passes an LBT 240 before the last reference signalsymbol 206 r in the slot 204 ₍₂₎ begin, and thus begin the transmissionof the UL communication signal 810 beginning at the starting position704 a.

In an embodiment, the BS may configure the UE with the configuration 700via an RRC configuration. For example, the BS may indicate that a firsttime-density for the reference signal symbols 206 r in the first twoslots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎ and a second time-density for the referencesignal symbols 206 r in the next two slots 204 ₍₃₎ and 204 ₍₄₎. The BSmay transmit a UL grant via a DCI to the UE indicating the slots 204 ₍₂₎and 204 ₍₃₎ in the TXOP 802 allocated to the UE. The UE may determinewhere the UL slots 204 (e.g., the UL portion 806) are located in theTXOP 802 via a slot format indicator (SFI) received in a common-PDCCH(C-PDCCH). In the context of NR, SFI can indicate whether a slot 204 isdesignated for UL, DL, or flexible communication direction and theC-PDCCH is a common search space for all UEs connected to the BS. Afterdetermining the locations of the UL slots 204 in the TXOP 802, the UEcan determine the locations of the granted slots 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎within the UL slots 204 of the TXOP 802. The UE can determine thelocations of the reference signal symbols 206 r in the granted slots 204₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎ by matching the locations of the granted slots 204 ₍₂₎and 204 ₍₃₎ within the UL slots 204 of the TXOP 802 to the configuration700.

In an embodiment, the BS may transmit a UL grant via a DCI to the UEindicating the slots 204 ₍₂₎ and 204 ₍₃₎ in the TXOP 802 allocated tothe UE. The BS may indicate the reference signal symbol time-densityalong with the UL grant in the DCI. For example, the BS may allocate Lslots 204 for the UE and may indicate that the first P slots 204 have ahigh reference signal symbols 206 r time-density and remaining slots 204have a low reference signal symbols 206 r time-density, where L and Pare positive integers.

In an embodiment, the BS may configure the UE with a set of referencesignal symbols 206 r having a certain time-density via an RRCconfiguration and may indicate a change in the reference signal symbols206 r time-density via the DCI. Alternatively, the BS indicate thereference signal symbols 206 r time-density (e.g., for example the Pvalue) within the UL grant.

In general, the UE may identify UL transmission starting positionsthrough RRC configurations, C-PDCCH/SFI, DCI, and/or UL grants.

The schemes 500, 600, and 800 described above with respect to FIGS. 5,6, and 8 , respectively, associate allowable UL transmissions startingpositions with the locations of the reference signal symbols 206 rwithin a slot 204. In another embodiment, a BS may convey multipleflexible starting positions for a UL transmission through a number ofreference signal symbols 206 r within a slot 204 in addition to thelocations of the reference signal symbols 206 r.

FIGS. 9-10 illustrates various UL transmission mechanisms where a ULtransmission may start at any symbol locations within an allocation. InFIGS. 9-10 , the x-axes represent time in some constant units.

FIG. 9 illustrates a communication scheme 900 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 900 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 900 isillustrated using a similar slot structure as in the scheme 200, and mayuse the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 for simplicity sake. Thescheme 900 allows a UL transmission to start at any symbol locationwithin an allocated slot instead of defined based on reference signalsymbol locations. For example, a BS may allocate multiple slots 204(e.g., a first slot 204 ₍₁₎ and a second slot 204 ₍₂₎) for a UE totransmit a UL communication signal 910. Instead of introducing a highreference signal symbol overhead with the high time-density in theallocated slots 204, where a late UL transmission start will causereference signal symbols to be dropped or punctured, the UE can start totransmit the UL communication signal 910 at any symbol location.

However, in some instances, the UE may not be able to start until afterthe last reference signal symbol 206 r in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎, forexample, gated by LBTs (e.g., the LBT 240). In an example the UEtransmits a UL communication signal 910 beginning at a starting position912 (e.g., after passing an LBT) in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎ and continueinto the second slot 204 ₍₂₎. This starting position 912 is after a lastreference signal symbol 206 r in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎. The ULcommunication signal 910 includes UL data 222 in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎and the second slot 204 ₍₂₎. However, the UL communication signalincludes a reference signal 210 in the second slot 204 ₍₂₎, but not inthe first slot 204 ₍₁₎. In such an example, the BS may use the referencesignal 210 received in a next slot 204 ₍₂₎ for channel estimation andrecovery of UL data 222 transmitted in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎ and thesecond slot 204 ₍₂₎.

It should be noted that the use of a reference signal 210 received in anext slot 204 ₍₂₎ for data decoding in a current slot 204 ₍₁₎ requiresthe same precoding or transmission rank to be used for transmissions inboth slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎ and the UE to maintain a phase continuityfor the transmissions across the slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204 ₍₂₎.

To assist the BS in locating or detecting the start of the ULcommunication signal 910, the UE can transmit uplink control information(UCI) 914 indicating the transmission of the UL communication signal 910in the slot 204 ₍₁₎. The UCI 914 can include an indication of thestarting position 912 of the UL communication signal 910. The UE maytransmit the UCI 914 during the slot 204 ₍₂₎. For example, the BS mayconfigure a resource for UCI transmission in each slot 204. The UCIresource may be located in any suitable location within a slot 204. TheBS may monitor for a UCI from the UE. Upon detecting the UCI 914, the BSmay know the start of the UL communication signal 910. The UE mayreceive the UL communication signal 910 according to the UCI 914. The BSmay determine a channel estimate based on the reference signal 210received in the second slot 204 ₍₂₎. The BS may decode the UL data 222from the UL communication signal 910 received in the first slot 204 ₍₁₎and in the second slot 204 ₍₂₎ based on the channel estimate.

FIG. 10 illustrates a communication scheme 1000 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 1000 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 1000 isillustrated using a similar slot structure as in the scheme 200, and mayuse the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 for simplicity sake.Similar to the scheme 900, the scheme 1000 allows a UL transmission tostart at any symbol locations within an allocated slot instead oflimited by the reference signal symbol locations. However, the scheme1000 utilizes a preamble signal to indicate the start of a ULtransmission signal instead of the UCI 914 as in the scheme 900. Thescheme 1000 is described using the same slot configuration, the samereference signal configuration, and the same UL allocation as in thescheme 900.

As shown, the UE transmits a UL communication signal 1010 beginning atthe starting position 1012, for example, based on an LBT pass. To assistthe BS in locating or detecting the start of the UL communication signal1010, the UE includes a preamble signal 1014 at the beginning of the ULcommunication signal 1010. The preamble signal 1014 may include one ormore predetermined frequency tones. Alternatively, the preamble signal1010 may include a predetermined sequence. The preamble signal 1014functions as a wakeup signal to mark the start of the UL communicationsignal 1010. Accordingly, the BS may determine when the UE starts a ULtransmission by monitoring for the preamble signal 1014 in the firstslot 204 ₍₁₎ and/or the second slot 204 ₍₂₎. In some examples, the BSmay configure a plurality of preamble signal transmission opportunitiesand the UE may begin a UL transmission using one of the preamble signaltransmission opportunities. In such examples, the BS may monitor for aUL transmission from the UE at the configured preamble transmissionopportunities.

In some embodiments, the preamble signal 1014 may include the samesignal sequence irrespective of when the UE starts a UL transmission. Insome embodiments, the preamble signal 1014 may include a time-dependentsignal sequence, for example, based on the start time of a ULtransmission. For example, different signal sequences may be used fordifferent portions of a slot 204.

In an embodiment, the preamble signal 1014 includes a wideband signalpattern or signal structure similar to the reference signal 210 (e.g.,including a DMRS pattern). In such an embodiment, the preamble signal1010 can be used for channel estimation by the BS in addition to markingthe start of the UL communication signal 1010. To avoid a high preambleoverhead, the signal sequence or DMRS pattern for the preamble signal1014 can be transmitted using all antenna ports on the same symbol(e.g., the symbols 206) even when the configured reference signal 210uses different symbols for different antenna ports, for example, tosupport MIMO transmissions. In an example, the reference signal 210 mayinclude a DMRS pattern transmitted by antenna ports 1 and 2 on onesymbol and by antenna ports 3 and 4 on another symbol. Since the DMRSpattern includes a scrambling sequence that is dependent on the symbol206 index, the preamble signal 1014 can include a signal sequence (e.g.,a DMRS pattern) that is dependent on the symbol 206 index. In someembodiments, the UE may pre-generate different DMRS patterns fordifferent symbol time or different portions of a slot 204 based onallowable starting positions. Upon passing an LBT, the UE may use a DMRSpattern corresponding to a start time of the UL communication signal1010 for the preamble signal 1014.

While the schemes 1000 can provide a greater flexibility oropportunities for a UE to select a starting position within an allocatedtime period, a BS is required to monitor for a preamble signal 1014, aDMRS pattern, or a reference signal 210 in a full slot 204.

FIG. 11 illustrates a communication scheme 1100 that provisions multipleflexible transmission starting positions for a UL transmission accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 1100 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEs such as the UEs 115and 300 in a network such as the network 100. The scheme 1100 definesflexible starting positions based on locations of reference signalsymbols (e.g., the reference signal symbols 206 r) within a slot (e.g.,the slots 204) and the number of reference signal symbols within a slotto provide a greater number of starting positions without increasing thereference signal symbol time-density or search complexity at a BS.

As an example, a slot 204 may include about 14 symbols 206 indexed 0 to13. A BS assigns a set of symbols 206 as potential reference signalsymbols, for example, including symbols 206 indexed 4, 8, and 12. The BSdefines a plurality of allowable UL transmission starting positions inthe slot 204 based on potential locations of reference signal symbols206 r within the slot 204 and the number of reference signal symbols 206r within the slot 204. A configuration including three potentialreference signal symbols 206 in a slot 204, can allow up to about six ULtransmission starting positions in the slot 204. For example, the six ULtransmission starting positions may include symbols 206 indexed 0, 2, 4,6, 8, 10, and 12 as shown by the starting positions 1112, 1122, 1132,1142, 1152, and 1162, respectively. Table 1102 illustrates an exampleassociation between the allowable UL transmission starting positions1112, 1122, 1132, 1142, 1152, and 1162 and corresponding referencesignal symbols 206 r.

According to the table 1102, a UL communication signal 1110 beginning atsymbol 206 indexed 0 (e.g., a starting position 1112) includes onereference signal 210 at symbol indexed 4. A UL communication signal 1120beginning at symbol 206 indexed 2 (e.g., a starting position 1122)includes two reference signals 210 at symbols indexed 4 and 12. A ULcommunication signal 1130 beginning at symbol 206 indexed 4 (e.g., astarting position 1132) includes two reference signals 210 at symbolsindexed 4 and 8. A UL communication signal 1140 beginning at symbol 206indexed 6 (e.g., a starting position 1142) includes one reference signal210 at symbol indexed 8. A UL communication signal 1150 beginning atsymbol 206 indexed 8 (e.g., a starting position 1152) includes tworeference signals 210 at symbols indexed 8 and 12. A UL communicationsignal 1160 beginning at symbol 206 indexed 10 (e.g., a startingposition 1162) includes one reference signal 210 at symbol indexed 12.

In an embodiment, the BS may configure a UE with a lookup table (LUT)similar to the table 1102 and may grant the UE a UL transmission in theslot 204. The UE may perform an LBT (e.g., the LBT 240). Upon asuccessful LBT, the UE may select a starting position for transmitting aUL communication signal to the BS in the slot 204 based on the LUT. TheBS may perform blind detection for a reference signal 210 in the set ofpotential reference signal symbols 206 (e.g., indexed 4, 8, and 12).Based on the number of reference signals 210 detected and the locationsof the detected reference signals 210, the BS can determine the startingposition of the UL transmission from the UE.

FIG. 12 is a signaling diagram illustrating a UL communication method1200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method1200 is implemented by a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 400) and a UE (e.g.,the UEs 115 and 300) in a network (e.g., the network 100). The method1200 may use similar mechanisms as in the schemes 500, 600, 800, 900,1000, and 1100 and the configuration 700 described above with respect toFIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 7 , respectively. Steps of the method 1200can be executed by computing devices (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of the BS and the UE. Asillustrated, the method 1200 includes a number of enumerated steps, butembodiments of the method 1200 may include additional steps before,after, and in between the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one ormore of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a differentorder.

At step 1205, the BS transmits a configuration to the UE. Theconfiguration may indicate information associated with reference signalsymbols (e.g., the reference signal symbols 206 r), such as thelocations of the reference signal symbols within a slot (e.g., the slots204) and/or the time-density of the reference signal symbols (e.g.,similar to the configuration 700). The configuration may indicate a rulefor identifying allowable UL transmission starting positions (e.g., thestarting positions 512, 522, 532, 612, 622, 632, 704 a, 912, 1012, 1112,1122, 1132, 1142, 1152, and 1162) within a slot. The rules can includean association (e.g., an offset) between the locations of the referencesignal symbols and the UL transmission starting positions as shown inthe schemes 500, 600, and 800. The rules can include a LUT (e.g., thetable 1102) defining UL transmission starting positions based onreference signal symbol locations and the number of reference signalsymbols within a slot. The rules can indicate that a UL transmission canstart at any locations within a slot, but may be required to include UCI(e.g., the UCI 914) or a preamble signal (e.g., the preamble signal1014) to indicate the start of the UL transmission as shown in theschemes 900 and 1000, respectively. The rules can indicate a signalsequence pattern (e.g., a wideband DMRS pattern) to be used for thepreamble signal, where the signal sequence pattern may betime-dependent. The BS may transmit the configuration via an RRCconfiguration message and/or a DCI message.

At step 1210, the BS performs an LBT (e.g., the LBT 240). When the LBTpasses, the BS gains a TXOP (e.g., the TXOP 802) in the channel andschedule the UE for a UL transmission in one or more slots within theTXOP.

At step 1215, the BS transmits a UL grant to the UE. The UL grant mayindicate the allocated slots within the TXOP and/or other transmissionconfiguration parameters (e.g., MCS code rate, precoding, and/ortransmission rank). The grant may also include information about thereference signal location and/or start location configuration.

At step 1225, the UE identifies flexible or allowable UL transmissionstarting positions based on the configuration (e.g., the referencesignal symbol configuration, the LUT, and/or the rules).

At step 1230, the UE performs an LBT, for example, based on theallowable UL transmission starting positions.

At step 1235, the UE identifies a starting position upon pass an LBT.

At step 1240, the UE transmits a UL communication signal to the BS inthe one or more allocated slots beginning at the identified startingposition. The UL communication signal may be similar to the ULcommunication signals 510, 520, 530, 610, 620, 630, 810, 910, 1010,1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, 1150, and 1160. The UL communication signal caninclude one or more reference signals (e.g., the reference signals 210)at corresponding reference signal symbols and may include UL data (e.g.,the UL data 222) at remaining symbols. In some embodiments, the ULcommunication signal can include UCI (e.g., the UCI 914) indicatinginformation associated with the UL transmission or a preamble signal(e.g., the preamble signal 1014) marking the start of the ULtransmission.

At step 1220, the BS monitors for a UL communication signal from the UEbased on the UL grant. Depending on the configured rules, the BS mayperform blind detection at the configured reference signal symbols orpotential reference signal symbols and the configured rules. The BS candetermine the start of a UL communication signal based on the referencesignal detection. Alternatively, the BS can monitor for UCI and/or apreamble signal to determine whether the UE transmitted a ULcommunication signal and/or when the UE begins the transmission.

At step 1245, the BS recovers UL data from the received UL communicationsignal. The BS may estimate a channel response from one or morereference signals received from one or more slots. The BS may performdemodulation and/or decoding based on the channel estimate to recoverthe UL data.

FIGS. 13-15 illustrate various mechanisms for provisioning multiplestarting positions for a random access occasion. In FIGS. 13-14 , thex-axis represent time in some constant units.

FIG. 13 illustrates a random access preamble transmission scheme 1300that provisions multiple random access opportunities for a random accessoccasions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Thescheme 1300 may be employed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400 and UEssuch as the UEs 115 and 300 in a network such as the network 100. InFIG. 13 , the x-axis represents time in some constant units. In thescheme 1300, a BS may contend for a TXOP 1302 in a shared frequency bandor unlicensed frequency band (e.g., the frequency channel 202). Upongaining a TXOP 1302, the BS may configure a random access occasion 1304within the TXOP 1302. The BS may provision for multiple random accessopportunities 1306 for the random access occasion 1304 to allow a UE tostart a random access preamble signal transmission at a later time(e.g., due to LBTs). For simplicity of illustration and discussion, FIG.13 illustrates three random access opportunities 1306 a, 1306 b, and1306 c for the random access occasion 1304. However, the BS mayconfigure any suitable number of random access opportunities 1306 (e.g.,about 2, 4, 5, or more) for the random access occasion 1304. A UE mayuse a random access opportunity to transmit a random access preamblesignal, for example, to initiate a network access procedure.

The random access opportunities 1306 a, 1306 b, and 1306 c begin atdifferent starting positions 1308 a, 1308 b, and 1308 c, respectively,and may at least partially overlap with each other. In an example, thestarting positions 1308 a, 1308 b, and 1308 c may correspond to symbols0, 2, and 4, respectively. The multiple starting positions 1308 or themultiple random access opportunities 1306 allow a UE to starttransmitting a random access preamble signal at various time locations,for example, based on an LBT pass. For example, the UE may perform LBTs240 according to the multiple starting positions 1308. If the UE passesan LBT 240 prior to the starting position 1308 a as shown by the checkedmark, the UE may transmit a random access preamble signal 1310 using therandom access opportunity 1306 a beginning at the position 1308 a. Ifthe UE fails an LBT 240 prior to the starting position 1308 a as shownby the “X” mark, but passes the LBT 240 prior to the starting position1308 b as shown by the checked mark, the UE may transmit a random accesspreamble signal 1320 using the random access opportunity 1306 bbeginning at the position 1308 b. If the UE fails LBTs 240 prior to thestarting positions 1308 a and 1308 b as shown by the “X” marks, butpasses the LBT 240 prior to the starting position 1308 c as shown by thechecked mark, the UE may transmit a random access preamble signal 1330using the random access opportunity 1306 c beginning at the position1308 c.

As can be observed, the random access opportunities 1306 a, 1306 b, and1306 c have different durations. For example, the random access preamblesignal 1310 transmitted in the random access opportunity 1306 a startingat the starting position 1308 a may include a full long PRACH formatsignal, whereas the random access preamble signal 1320 transmitted inthe random access opportunity 1306 b starting at a later position 1308 bmay include a truncated version of the long PRACH format signal (e.g.,the random access preamble signal 1320). A few example PRACH signalformats from NR are described herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates a random access preamble signal configuration 1400according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Theconfiguration 1400 may be employed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and 400and UEs such as the UEs 115 and 300 in a network such as the network100. The reference signal configuration 1400 can be used in conjunctionwith the scheme 1300. The configuration 1400 illustrate example PRACHformats including a format B1 1410, a format B2 1420, a format B3 1430,and a format B4 1440.

In an embodiment, the format B4 1440 may include a cyclic prefix (CP)1402, about 12 symbols 1404 (e.g., the symbols 206), and a guard time(GT) 1406. The format B3 1430 may include a CP 1402, about 6 symbols1404, and a GT 1406. The format B2 1420 may include a CP 1402, about 4symbols 1404, and a GT 1406. The format B1 1410 may include a CP 1402,about 2 symbols 1404, and a GT 1406. The format B4 1440 may includeabout 12 repeating sequences 1450 each carried in one symbol 1404. Thesequence 1450 may be a predetermine sequence including a certainsequence pattern. The format B3 1430 may include about 6 repeatingsequences 1450 each carried in one symbol 1404. The format B2 1420 mayinclude about 4 repeating sequences 1450 each carried in one symbol1404. The format B1 1410 may include about 2 repeating sequences 1450each carried in one symbol 1404. The CP 1402 may include an end portionof a sequence 1450. The GT 1406 may include no transmission. The formatB4 1440 may be referred to as a long PRACH format. The format B3 1330,the format B2 1320, and the format B1 1310 may be referred to as a shortPRACH format.

In an example, the scheme 1300 configures the random access occasion1304 with a long preamble format B4 1440. A UE passing an LBT early maytransmit a random access preamble signal 1310 with the format B4 1440using the random access opportunity 1306 a. A UE passing an LBT at alater time may transmit a random access preamble signal with a shortenedform of the format B4 1440 (e.g., by truncating the first few symbols ofthe format B4 1440) using the random access opportunity 1306 b or 1306c. For example, the UE may drop the first two symbols of the format B41440 from the random access preamble signal transmission (e.g., randomaccess preamble signal 1320) when using the random access opportunity1306 b based on the starting position 1308 b and may drop the firstthree symbols of the format B4 1440 from the random access preamblesignal transmission (e.g., random access preamble signal 1330) whenusing the random access opportunity 1306 c based on the startingposition 1308 c.

In an embodiment, the BS may configure a random access occasion (e.g.,the random access occasion 1304) with multiple random accessopportunities (e.g., the random access opportunities 1306) outside of aTXOP similar to the TXOP 1302. The BS may allow for a longer a randomaccess opportunity duration outside of a TXOP and within a TXOP. In anexample, the BS may configure a long PRACH format (e.g., the format B41440) for a random access opportunity outside of a TXOP and a shortPRACH format (e.g., the format B3 1430) for a random access opportunitywithin a BS's TXOP. In other words, a BS acquiring a TXOP by performinga category-4 LBT allows or grants a UE to use the acquired TXOP forrandom access by configuring RACH resources in the TXOP.

In an embodiment, a UE may perform LBT of different categories based onewhether a random access opportunity is within a TXOP or outside of aTXOP. For example, a UE may perform a category-2 LBT (e.g., without arandom-backoff) for random access opportunities within a TXOP and mayperform a category-4 LBT (e.g., including a random-backoff with avariable size contention window) for random access opportunities outsideof a TXOP.

In an embodiment, when a UE transmits a random access preamble signalwith a reduced duration (e.g., the duration of the random accessopportunity 1306 b or 1306 c), the UE may increase the transmissionpower level to improve detectability at a BS. For example, the UE mayincrease the transmission power level based on a ratio between a fullduration (e.g., the duration of the random access opportunity 1306 a)and a reduced duration (e.g., the duration of the random accessopportunity 1306 b or 1306 c).

In an embodiment, after a UE fails a random access attempt (e.g., the BSfails to detect the UE transmitted random access preamble signal), theUE may perform power control (e.g., power ramping) for a subsequentrandom access preamble signal transmission. The UE may adjust thetransmission power further based on the duration of the subsequentrandom access preamble signal transmission in addition to the powerramping. For example, the UE may normalize the transmission power withthe duration of the subsequent random access preamble signaltransmission. To minimize interference impact on an adjacent carrier dueto the increased transmission power, the BS may control the startingpositions of the random access opportunities within the random accessoccasion. The BS may configure the UE with a random access configuration(e.g., including a random access occasion with multiple startingpositions and a corresponding PRACH format) via an RRC configurationand/or C-PDCCH.

FIG. 15 is a signaling diagram illustrating a random access preambletransmission method 1500 according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The method 1500 is implemented by a BS (e.g., the BSs 105and 400) and a UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300) in a network (e.g., thenetwork 100). The method 1500 may use similar mechanisms as in thescheme 1300 and the configuration 1400 described above with respect toFIGS. 13 and 14 , respectively. Steps of the method 1500 can be executedby computing devices (e.g., a processor, processing circuit, and/orother suitable component) of the BS and the UE. As illustrated, themethod 1500 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments ofthe method 1500 may include additional steps before, after, and inbetween the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of theenumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1505, the BS performs an LBT (e.g., the LBTs 240) in a channel.For example, the LBT result is a pass. Thus, the BS gains a TXOP (e.g.,the TXOP 1302) in the channel.

At step 1510, the BS transmits a first random access configuration. Thefirst random access configuration may indicate a random access occasion(e.g., the random access occasion 1304) within the TXOP. The randomaccess occasion may include multiple random access opportunities (e.g.,the random access opportunities 1306) with different starting positions(e.g., the starting positions 1308). The first random accessconfiguration may indicate a PRACH format (e.g., the format B4 1440) andthe random access opportunities.

At step 1515, the UE performs one or more first LBTs (e.g., cat-2 LBT)based on the random access opportunities indicated by the first randomaccess configuration. For example, one of the first LBTs results in apass.

At step 1520, the UE transmits a random access preamble signal (e.g.,the random access preamble signals 1310, 1322, and 1330) using a randomaccess opportunity corresponding to the passed LBT. The random accesspreamble signal may include the PRACH format for the random accessoccasion.

At step 1525, the BS performs first monitoring for a random accesspreamble signal based on the random access opportunities included in thefirst random access configuration.

At step 1530, the BS transmits a second random access configuration. Thesecond random access configuration may indicate a random access occasion(e.g., the random access occasion 1304) outside of a TXOP. The randomaccess occasion may include multiple random access opportunities (e.g.,the random access opportunities 1306) with different starting positions(e.g., the starting positions 1308). The second random accessconfiguration may indicate a PRACH format for the random accessopportunities.

At step 1535, the UE performs one or more second LBTs (e.g., a cat-4LBT) based on the second random access opportunity (e.g., the randomaccess opportunity 1306 a) indicated by the second random accessconfiguration. For example, one of the second LBTs results in a pass.

At step 1540, the UE transmits a random access preamble signal (e.g.,the random access preamble signals 1310, 1322, and 1330) using a randomaccess opportunity corresponding to the passed LBT. The UE may use theconfigured format and truncate the first few symbols depending on thestarting position and transmit the remaining part of the preamblesignal.

At step 1545, the BS performs second monitoring for a random accesspreamble signal based on the random access opportunities included in thesecond random access configuration.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1600 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1600 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communicationdevice or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, awireless communication device, such as the UEs 115 and/or UE 300, mayutilize one or more components, such as the processor 302, the memory304, the communication module 308, the transceiver 310, and the one ormore antennas 316, to execute the steps of method 1600. The method 1600may employ similar mechanisms as in the schemes 500, 600, 800, 900,1000, 1100, and 1200 and the configuration 700 described with respect toFIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 7 , respectively. As illustrated, themethod 1600 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments ofthe method 1600 may include additional steps before, after, and inbetween the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of theenumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1610, the method 1600 includes receiving, by a first wirelesscommunication device from a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period (e.g., including oneor more slots 204). The first wireless communication device maycorrespond to a UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300). The second wirelesscommunication device may correspond to a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 400).

At step 1620, the method 1600 includes selecting, by the first wirelesscommunication device, a starting location for transmitting acommunication signal (e.g., the UL communication signals 510, 520, 530,610, 620, 630, 810, 910, 1010, 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, 1150, and 1160)from among a plurality of starting locations (e.g., the startingpositions 512, 522, 532, 612, 633, 632, 704, 912, 1012, 1112, 1122,1132, 1142, 1152, and 1162) within the transmission period.

At step 1630, the method 1600 includes transmitting, by the firstwireless communication device to the second wireless communicationdevice in response to the transmission grant, the communication signalduring the transmission period based on the selected starting location.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device can furtherreceive a configuration indicating a plurality of reference signalsymbols (e.g., the reference signal symbols 206 r) within thetransmission period and an association between the plurality of startinglocations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. In anembodiment, the association is based on locations of the plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period, for example, asshown in the schemes 500, 600, and 800. In an embodiment, theassociation is further based on a number of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the transmission period, for example, as shown in thescheme 1100.

In an embodiment, the configuration indicates a first reference signalsymbol time density in a first portion (e.g., the slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204₍₂₎ of the UL burst 702) of the transmission period and a secondreference signal symbol time density in a second portion (e.g., theslots 204 ₍₃₎ and 204 ₍₄₎ of the UL burst 702) of the transmissionperiod, as shown in the configuration 700. For example, a first subsetof the plurality of reference signal symbols in a portion of thetransmission period are spaced apart from each other by a first offsetand a second subset of the plurality of reference signal symbols inanother portion of the transmission period are spaced apart from eachother by a second offset different from the first offset.

In an embodiment, the communication signal can include information(e.g., the UCI 914) associated with the selected starting location. Inan embodiment, the communication signal can include a preamble signal(e.g., the preamble signal 1014) beginning at the selected startinglocation. In an embodiment, the preamble signal can include a sequencepattern (e.g., a scrambling sequence) that is associated with theselected starting location.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1700 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1700 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communicationdevice or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, awireless communication device, such as the BSs 105 and/or BS 400, mayutilize one or more components, such as the processor 402, the memory404, the communication module 408, the transceiver 410, and the one ormore antennas 416, to execute the steps of method 1700. The method 1700may employ similar mechanisms as in the schemes 500, 600, 800, 900,1000, 1100, and 1200 and the configuration 700 described with respect toFIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 7 , respectively. As illustrated, themethod 1700 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments ofthe method 1700 may include additional steps before, after, and inbetween the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of theenumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1710, the method 1700 includes transmitting, by a first wirelesscommunication device to a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period (e.g., including oneor more slots 204). The first wireless communication device maycorrespond to a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 400). The second wirelesscommunication device may correspond to a UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300).

At step 1720, the method 1700 includes monitoring, by the first wirelesscommunication device in response to the transmission grant, for acommunication signal (e.g., the UL communication signals 510, 520, 530,610, 620, 630, 810, 910, 1010, 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, 1150, and 1160)from the second wireless communication device in the transmissionperiod.

At step 1730, the method 1700 includes identifying, by the firstwireless communication device upon detection of the communicationsignal, a starting location of the communication signal from among aplurality of starting locations (e.g., the starting positions 512, 522,532, 612, 633, 632, 704, 912, 1012, 1112, 1122, 1132, 1142, 1152, and1162) within the transmission period.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device transmits aconfiguration indicating a plurality of reference signal symbols (e.g.,the reference signal symbols 206 r) within the transmission period andan association between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. In an embodiment, the associationis based on locations of the plurality of reference signal symbolswithin the transmission period, for example, as shown in the schemes500, 600, and 800. In an embodiment, the association is further based ona number of the plurality of reference signal symbols in thetransmission period, for example, as shown in the scheme 1100.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device performs themonitoring by monitoring for a reference signal (e.g., the referencesignal 210) associated with the communication signal from the secondwireless communication device at one or more of the plurality ofreference signal symbols. The first wireless communication deviceidentifies the starting location based on a detection of the referencesignal and the association between the plurality of starting locationsand the plurality of reference signal symbols.

In an embodiment, the configuration indicates a first reference signalsymbol time density in a first portion (e.g., the slots 204 ₍₁₎ and 204₍₂₎ of the UL burst 702) of the transmission period and a secondreference signal symbol time density in a second portion (e.g., theslots 204 ₍₃₎ and 204 ₍₄₎ of the UL burst 702) of the transmissionperiod, as shown in the configuration 700. For example, a first subsetof the plurality of reference signal symbols in a portion of thetransmission period are spaced apart from each other by a first offset,and wherein a second subset of the plurality of reference signal symbolsin another portion of the transmission period are spaced apart from eachother by a second offset different from the first offset.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device performs themonitoring by monitoring for at least one of control information (e.g.,the UCI 914) or a preamble signal (e.g., the preamble signal 1014)associated with the communication signal from the second wirelesscommunication device during the transmission period, where theidentifying is based on a detection of the at least one of the controlinformation or the preamble signal.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device furtherreceives, from the second wireless communication device, thecommunication signal during a first transmission slot and a secondtransmission slot within the transmission period, where thecommunication signal begins at the identified starting location withinthe first transmission slot. The first wireless communication devicerecovers data (e.g., the UL data 222) from a portion of thecommunication signal received during the first transmission slot basedon channel information determined from a reference signal associatedwith the communication signal received during the second transmissionslot.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device performs themonitoring by monitoring for the preamble signal. The first wirelesscommunication device further receives, from the second wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal based on a detection ofthe preamble signal. The first wireless communication device furtherreceives data from the communication signal based on channel informationdetermined from the preamble signal.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1800 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1800 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communicationdevice or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, awireless communication device, such as the UEs 115 and/or 300, mayutilize one or more components, such as the processor 302, the memory304, the communication module 308, the transceiver 310, and the one ormore antennas 316, to execute the steps of method 1800. In anotherexample, a wireless communication device, such as the BSs 105 and/or400, may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 402, thememory 404, the communication module 408, the transceiver 410, and theone or more antennas 416, to execute the steps of method 1800. Themethod 1800 may employ similar mechanisms as in the schemes 1300, theconfiguration 1400, and the method 1500 described with respect to FIGS.13, 14, and 15 , respectively. As illustrated, the method 1800 includesa number of enumerated steps, but embodiments of the method 1800 mayinclude additional steps before, after, and in between the enumeratedsteps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumerated steps may beomitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1810, the method 1800 includes communicating, by a firstwireless communication device with a second wireless communicationdevice, a configuration indicating a plurality of random accessopportunities (e.g., the random access opportunities 1306) within atransmission period (e.g., a random access occasion 1304), the pluralityof random access opportunities beginning at different starting timelocations (e.g., the starting positions 1308) and at least partiallyoverlapping with each other in time.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device may correspondto a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 400) and the second wirelesscommunication device may correspond to a UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300).In another embodiment, the first wireless communication device maycorrespond to a UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300) and the second wirelesscommunication device may correspond to a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 400).

At step 1820, the method 1800 includes communicating, by the firstwireless communication device with the second wireless communicationdevice, a random access preamble signal (e.g., the random accesspreamble signals 1310, 1320, 1330) during a first random accessopportunity of the plurality of random access opportunities.

In an embodiment, the random access preamble signal includes a format(e.g., the format B4 1440) that is based on at least one of a startinglocation of the first random access opportunity. The format includes atleast a random access preamble signal duration.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device corresponds toa BS and the second wireless communication device corresponds to a UE.In such an embodiment, the first wireless communication devicecommunicates the random by receiving the random access preamble signalfrom the second wireless communication device. The random accesspreamble signal includes a format that is based on whether thetransmission period is within a TXOP (e.g., the TXOP 1302) of the firstwireless communication device. The format includes at least a randomaccess preamble signal duration. In an embodiment, the format includes afirst random access preamble signal duration when the transmissionperiod is within the TXOP, wherein the format includes a second randomaccess preamble signal duration when the transmission period is outsideof the TXOP, and wherein the first random access preamble signalduration is shorter than the second random access preamble signalduration.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device corresponds toa UE and the second wireless communication device corresponds to a BS.In such an embodiment, the first wireless communication devicecommunicates the random access preamble signal by transmitting, to thesecond wireless communication device, the random access preamble signalat a transmit power level determined at least in part based on aduration of the random access preamble signal.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device furtherdetermine at least one of a number of the plurality of random accessopportunities or durations of the plurality of random accessopportunities based on whether the transmission period is within a TXOPof the first wireless communication device.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C]means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication, including receiving, by a first wirelesscommunication device from a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; selecting, by thefirst wireless communication device, a starting location fortransmitting a communication signal from among a plurality of startinglocations within the transmission period; and transmitting, by the firstwireless communication device to the second wireless communicationdevice in response to the transmission grant, the communication signalduring the transmission period based on the selected starting location.

In some aspects, the method may also include receiving, by the firstwireless communication device, a configuration indicating a plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period and anassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The method may also include wherethe association is based on locations of the plurality of referencesignal symbols within the transmission period. The method may alsoinclude where the association is based on a number of the plurality ofreference signal symbols in the transmission period. The method may alsoinclude where the configuration indicates a first reference signalsymbol time density in a first portion of the transmission period and asecond reference signal symbol time density in a second portion of thetransmission period, where a first subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the first portion are spaced apart from each other bya first offset, and where a second subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the second portion are spaced apart from each other bya second offset different from the first offset. The method may alsoinclude where the transmitting includes transmitting, by the firstwireless communication device to the second wireless communicationdevice, the communication signal including information associated withthe selected starting location. The method may also include where thetransmitting includes transmitting, by the first wireless communicationdevice to the second wireless communication device, the communicationsignal including a preamble signal beginning at the selected startinglocation. The method may also include where the preamble signal includesa sequence pattern that is associated with the selected startinglocation. The method may also include where the selecting is based on alisten-before-talk (LBT) procedure.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication, including transmitting, by a first wirelesscommunication device to a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; monitoring, by thefirst wireless communication device in response to the transmissiongrant, for a communication signal from the second wireless communicationdevice in the transmission period; and identifying, by the firstwireless communication device upon detection of the communicationsignal, a starting location of the communication signal from among aplurality of starting locations within the transmission period.

In some aspects, the method may also include transmitting, by the firstwireless communication device, a configuration indicating a plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period and anassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The method may also include wherethe association is based on at least one of locations of the pluralityof reference signal symbols within the transmission period. The methodmay also include where the association is based on a number of theplurality of reference signal symbols in the transmission period. Themethod may also include where the monitoring includes monitoring, by thefirst wireless communication device, for a reference signal associatedwith the communication signal from the second wireless communicationdevice at one or more of the plurality of reference signal symbols. Themethod may also include where the identifying is based on a detection ofthe reference signal and the association between the plurality ofstarting locations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. Themethod may also include where the configuration indicates a firstreference signal symbol time density in a first portion of thetransmission period and a second reference signal symbol time density ina second portion of the transmission period, where a first subset of theplurality of reference signal symbols in the first portion are spacedapart from each other by a first offset, and where a second subset ofthe plurality of reference signal symbols in the second portion arespaced apart from each other by a second offset different from the firstoffset. The method may also include determining, by the first wirelesscommunication device, the first reference signal symbol time density inthe first portion of the transmission period and the second referencesignal symbol time density in the second portion of the transmissionperiod. The method may also include where the monitoring includesmonitoring, by the first wireless communication device, for at least oneof control information or a preamble signal associated with thecommunication signal from the second wireless communication deviceduring the transmission period, and where the identifying is based on adetection of the at least one of the control information or the preamblesignal. The method may also include receiving, by the first wirelesscommunication device from the second wireless communication device, thecommunication signal during a first transmission slot and a secondtransmission slot within the transmission period, the communicationsignal beginning at the identified starting location within the firsttransmission slot; and recovering, by the first wireless communicationdevice, data from a portion of the communication signal received duringthe first transmission slot based on channel information determined froma reference signal associated with the communication signal receivedduring the second transmission slot. The method may also include wherethe monitoring includes monitoring for the preamble signal, and wherethe method further includes receiving, by the first wirelesscommunication device from the second wireless communication device, thecommunication signal based on a detection of the preamble signal; andrecovering, by the first wireless communication device, data from thecommunication signal based on channel information determined from thepreamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication device, including communicating, by a firstwireless communication device with a second wireless communicationdevice, a configuration indicating a plurality of random accessopportunities within a transmission period, the plurality of randomaccess opportunities beginning at different starting time locations andat least partially overlapping with each other in time; andcommunicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, a random access preamble signalduring a first random access opportunity of the plurality of randomaccess opportunities.

The method may also include where the random access preamble signalincludes a format that is based on at least one of a starting locationof the first random access opportunity, the format including at least arandom access preamble signal duration. The method may also includewhere the communicating the random access preamble signal includesreceiving, by the first wireless communication device from the secondwireless communication device, the random access preamble signal. Themethod may also include where the random access preamble signal includesa format that is based on whether the transmission period is within atransmission opportunity (TXOP) of the first wireless communicationdevice, the format including at least a random access preamble signalduration. The method may also include where the format includes a firstrandom access preamble signal duration when the transmission period iswithin the TXOP, where the format includes a second random accesspreamble signal duration when the transmission period is outside of theTXOP, and where the first random access preamble signal duration isshorter than the second random access preamble signal duration. Themethod may also include where the communicating the random accesspreamble signal includes transmitting, by the first wirelesscommunication device to the second wireless communication device, therandom access preamble signal at a transmit power level determined atleast in part based on a duration of the random access preamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding a processor configured to select a starting location fortransmitting a communication signal from among a plurality of startinglocations within a transmission period; and a transceiver configured toreceive, from a wireless communication device, a transmission grantindicating the transmission period; and transmit, to the wirelesscommunication device in response to the transmission grant, thecommunication signal during the transmission period based on theselected starting location.

The apparatus may also include where the transceiver is furtherconfigured to receive a configuration indicating a plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period and anassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatus may also includewhere the association is based on locations of the plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period. The apparatusmay also include where the association is based on a number of theplurality of reference signal symbols in the transmission period. Theapparatus may also include where the configuration indicates a firstreference signal symbol time density in a first portion of thetransmission period and a second reference signal symbol time density ina second portion of the transmission period, where a first subset of theplurality of reference signal symbols in the first portion are spacedapart from each other by a first offset, and where a second subset ofthe plurality of reference signal symbols in the second portion arespaced apart from each other by a second offset different from the firstoffset. The apparatus may also include where the communication signalincludes information associated with the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the communication signal includes apreamble signal beginning at the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the preamble signal includes a sequencepattern that is associated with the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the processor is further configured toselect the starting location based on a listen-before-talk (LBT)procedure.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding a transceiver configured to transmit, to a wirelesscommunication device, a transmission grant indicating a transmissionperiod; and a processor configured to monitor, in response to thetransmission grant, for a communication signal from the wirelesscommunication device in the transmission period; and identify, upondetection of the communication signal, a starting location of thecommunication signal from among a plurality of starting locations withinthe transmission period.

The apparatus may also include where the transceiver is furtherconfigured to transmit a configuration indicating a plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period and anassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatus may also includewhere the association is based on at least one of locations of theplurality of reference signal symbols within the transmission period.The apparatus may also include where the association is based on anumber of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the transmissionperiod. The apparatus may also include where the processor is furtherconfigured to monitor for the communication signal by monitoring for areference signal from the wireless communication device at one or moreof the plurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatus may alsoinclude where the processor is further configured to identify thestarting location based on a detection of the reference signal and theassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatus may also includewhere the configuration indicates a first reference signal symbol timedensity in a first portion of the transmission period and a secondreference signal symbol time density in a second portion of thetransmission period, where a first subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the first portion are spaced apart from each other bya first offset, and where a second subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the second portion are spaced apart from each other bya second offset different from the first offset. The apparatus may alsoinclude where the processor is further configured to determine the firstreference signal symbol time density in the first portion of thetransmission period and the second reference signal symbol time densityin the second portion of the transmission period. The apparatus may alsoinclude where the processor is further configured to monitor for thecommunication signal by monitoring for at least one of controlinformation or a preamble signal associated with the communicationsignal from the wireless communication device during the transmissionperiod; and identify the starting location based on a detection of theat least one of the control information or the preamble signal. Theapparatus may also include where the transceiver is further configuredto receive, from the wireless communication device, the communicationsignal during a first transmission slot and a second transmission slotwithin the transmission period, the communication signal beginning atthe identified starting location within the first transmission slot, andwhere the processor is further configured to recover data from a portionof the communication signal received during the first transmission slotbased on channel information determined from a reference signalassociated with the communication signal received during the secondtransmission slot. The apparatus may also include where the processor isfurther configured to monitor for the communication signal by monitoringfor the preamble signal; and recover data from the communication signalbased on a detection of the communication signal and channel informationdetermined from the preamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding a transceiver configured to communicate, with a wirelesscommunication device, a configuration indicating a plurality of randomaccess opportunities within a transmission period, the plurality ofrandom access opportunities beginning at different starting timelocations and at least partially overlapping with each other in time;and communicate, with the wireless communication device, a random accesspreamble signal during a first random access opportunity of theplurality of random access opportunities.

The apparatus may also include where the random access preamble signalincludes a format that is based on at least one of a starting locationof the first random access opportunity, the format including at least arandom access preamble signal duration. The apparatus may also includewhere the transceiver is further configured to communicate the randomaccess preamble signal by receiving, from the wireless communicationdevice, the random access preamble signal. The apparatus may alsoinclude where the random access preamble signal includes a format thatis based on whether the transmission period is within a transmissionopportunity (TXOP) of the wireless communication device, the formatincluding at least a random access preamble signal duration. Theapparatus may also include where the format includes a first randomaccess preamble signal duration when the transmission period is withinthe TXOP, where the format includes a second random access preamblesignal duration when the transmission period is outside of the TXOP, andwhere the first random access preamble signal duration is shorter thanthe second random access preamble signal duration. The apparatus mayalso include where the transceiver is further configured to communicatethe random access preamble signal by transmitting, to the wirelesscommunication device, the random access preamble signal at a transmitpower level determined at least in part based on a duration of therandom access preamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code including code for causing a first wireless communicationdevice to receive, from a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; code for causingthe first wireless communication device to select a starting locationfor transmitting a communication signal from among a plurality ofstarting locations within the transmission period; and code for causingthe first wireless communication device to transmit, to the secondwireless communication device in response to the transmission grant, thecommunication signal during the transmission period based on theselected starting location.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also include code forcausing the first wireless communication device to receive aconfiguration indicating a plurality of reference signal symbols withinthe transmission period and an association between the plurality ofstarting locations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may also include where theassociation is based on locations of the plurality of reference signalsymbols within the transmission period. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the association is basedon a number of the plurality of reference signal symbols in thetransmission period. The non-transitory computer-readable medium mayalso include where the configuration indicates a first reference signalsymbol time density in a first portion of the transmission period and asecond reference signal symbol time density in a second portion of thetransmission period, where a first subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the first portion are spaced apart from each other bya first offset, and where a second subset of the plurality of referencesignal symbols in the second portion are spaced apart from each other bya second offset different from the first offset. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to transmit the communication signalis further configured to transmitting, to the second wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal including informationassociated with the selected starting location. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to transmit the communication signalis further configured to transmitting, to the second wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal including a preamblesignal beginning at the selected starting location. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the preamble signalincludes a sequence pattern that is associated with the selectedstarting location. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may alsoinclude where the code for causing the first wireless communicationdevice to select the starting location is further configured to selectthe starting location based on a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code including code for causing a first wireless communicationdevice to transmit, to a second wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; code for causingthe first wireless communication device to monitor, in response to thetransmission grant, for a communication signal from the second wirelesscommunication device in the transmission period; and code for causingthe first wireless communication device to identify, upon detection ofthe communication signal, a starting location of the communicationsignal from among a plurality of starting locations within thetransmission period.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also include code forcausing the first wireless communication device to transmit aconfiguration indicating a plurality of reference signal symbols withinthe transmission period and an association between the plurality ofstarting locations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may also include where theassociation is based on at least one of locations of the plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may also include where theassociation is based on a number of the plurality of reference signalsymbols in the transmission period. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium may also include where the code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to monitor for the communication signal is furtherconfigured to monitor for a reference signal associated with thecommunication signal from the second wireless communication device atone or more of the plurality of reference signal symbols. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may also include where the codefor causing the first wireless communication device to identify thestarting location is further configured to identify the startinglocation based on a detection of the reference signal and theassociation between the plurality of starting locations and theplurality of reference signal symbols. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the configurationindicates a first reference signal symbol time density in a firstportion of the transmission period and a second reference signal symboltime density in a second portion of the transmission period, where afirst subset of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the firstportion are spaced apart from each other by a first offset, and where asecond subset of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the secondportion are spaced apart from each other by a second offset differentfrom the first offset. The non-transitory computer-readable medium mayalso include code for causing the first wireless communication device todetermine the first reference signal symbol time density in the firstportion of the transmission period and the second reference signalsymbol time density in the second portion of the transmission period.The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also include where thecode for causing the first wireless communication device to monitor forthe communication signal is further configured to monitor for at leastone of control information or a preamble signal associated with thecommunication signal from the second wireless communication deviceduring the transmission period, and where the code for causing the firstwireless communication device to identify the starting location isfurther configured to identify the starting location based on adetection of the at least one of the control information or the preamblesignal. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also includecode for causing the first wireless communication device to receive,from the second wireless communication device, the communication signalduring a first transmission slot and a second transmission slot withinthe transmission period, the communication signal beginning at theidentified starting location within the first transmission slot; andcode for causing the first wireless communication device to recover datafrom a portion of the communication signal received during the firsttransmission slot based on channel information determined from areference signal associated with the communication signal receivedduring the second transmission slot. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may also include where the code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to monitor for the communicationsignal is further configured to monitor for the preamble signal, andwhere the non-transitory computer-readable medium further includes codefor causing the first wireless communication device to receive, from thesecond wireless communication device, the communication signal based ona detection of the preamble signal; and code for causing the firstwireless communication device to recover data from the communicationsignal based on channel information determined from the preamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding means for receiving, from a wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; means for selectinga starting location for transmitting a communication signal from among aplurality of starting locations within the transmission period; andmeans for transmitting, to the wireless communication device in responseto the transmission grant, the communication signal during thetransmission period based on the selected starting location.

The apparatus may also include means for receiving a configurationindicating a plurality of reference signal symbols within thetransmission period and an association between the plurality of startinglocations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatusmay also include where the association is based on locations of theplurality of reference signal symbols within the transmission period.The apparatus may also include where the association is based on anumber of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the transmissionperiod. The apparatus may also include where the configuration indicatesa first reference signal symbol time density in a first portion of thetransmission period and a second reference signal symbol time density ina second portion of the transmission period, where a first subset of theplurality of reference signal symbols in the first portion are spacedapart from each other by a first offset, and where a second subset ofthe plurality of reference signal symbols in the second portion arespaced apart from each other by a second offset different from the firstoffset. The apparatus may also include where the means for transmittingthe communication signal is further configured to transmitting, to thewireless communication device, the communication signal includinginformation associated with the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the means for transmitting thecommunication signal is further configured to transmitting, to thewireless communication device, the communication signal including apreamble signal beginning at the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the preamble signal includes a sequencepattern that is associated with the selected starting location. Theapparatus may also include where the means for selecting the startinglocation is further configured to select the starting location based ona listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding means for transmitting, to a wireless communication device, atransmission grant indicating a transmission period; means formonitoring, in response to the transmission grant, for a communicationsignal from the wireless communication device in the transmissionperiod; and means for identifying, upon detection of the communicationsignal, a starting location of the communication signal from among aplurality of starting locations within the transmission period.

The apparatus may also include means for transmitting a configurationindicating a plurality of reference signal symbols within thetransmission period and an association between the plurality of startinglocations and the plurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatusmay also include where the association is based on at least one oflocations of the plurality of reference signal symbols within thetransmission period. The apparatus may also include where theassociation is based on a number of the plurality of reference signalsymbols in the transmission period. The apparatus may also include wherethe means for monitoring fort the communication signal is furtherconfigured to monitor for a reference signal associated with thecommunication signal from the wireless communication device at one ormore of the plurality of reference signal symbols. The apparatus mayalso include where the means for identifying the starting location isfurther configured to identify the starting location based on adetection of the reference signal and the association between theplurality of starting locations and the plurality of reference signalsymbols. The apparatus may also include where the configurationindicates a first reference signal symbol time density in a firstportion of the transmission period and a second reference signal symboltime density in a second portion of the transmission period, where afirst subset of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the firstportion are spaced apart from each other by a first offset, and where asecond subset of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the secondportion are spaced apart from each other by a second offset differentfrom the first offset. The apparatus may also include means fordetermining the first reference signal symbol time density in the firstportion of the transmission period and the second reference signalsymbol time density in the second portion of the transmission period.The apparatus may also include where the means for monitoring for thecommunication signal is further configured to monitor for at least oneof control information or a preamble signal associated with thecommunication signal from the wireless communication device during thetransmission period, and where the means for identifying the startinglocation is further configured to identify the starting location basedon a detection of the at least one of the control information or thepreamble signal. The apparatus may also include means for receiving,from the wireless communication device, the communication signal duringa first transmission slot and a second transmission slot within thetransmission period, the communication signal beginning at theidentified starting location within the first transmission slot; andmeans for recovering data from a portion of the communication signalreceived during the first transmission slot based on channel informationdetermined from a reference signal associated with the communicationsignal received during the second transmission slot. The apparatus mayalso include where the means for monitoring for the communication signalis further configured to monitor for the preamble signal, and where theapparatus further includes means for receiving, from the wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal based on a detection ofthe preamble signal; and recover data from the communication signalbased on channel information determined from the preamble signal.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatusincluding means for communicating, with a wireless communication device,a configuration indicating a plurality of random access opportunitieswithin a transmission period, the plurality of random accessopportunities beginning at different starting time locations and atleast partially overlapping with each other in time; and means forcommunicating, with the wireless communication device, a random accesspreamble signal during a first random access opportunity of theplurality of random access opportunities.

The apparatus may also include where the random access preamble signalincludes a format that is based on at least one of a starting locationof the first random access opportunity, the format including at least arandom access preamble signal duration. The apparatus may also includewhere the means for communicating the random access preamble signal isfurther configured to receive, from the wireless communication device,the random access preamble signal. The apparatus may also include wherethe random access preamble signal includes a format that is based onwhether the transmission period is within a transmission opportunity(TXOP) of the apparatus, the format including at least a random accesspreamble signal duration. The apparatus may also include where theformat includes a first random access preamble signal duration when thetransmission period is within the TXOP, where the format includes asecond random access preamble signal duration when the transmissionperiod is outside of the TXOP, and where the first random accesspreamble signal duration is shorter than the second random accesspreamble signal duration. The apparatus may also include where the meansfor communicating the random access preamble signal is furtherconfigured to transmit, to the wireless communication device, the randomaccess preamble signal at a transmit power level determined at least inpart based on a duration of the random access preamble signal.

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and dependingon the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutionsand variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus,configurations and methods of use of the devices of the presentdisclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In lightof this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited tothat of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, asthey are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should befully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and theirfunctional equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication device, comprising: atransceiver; and a processor in communication with the transceiver,wherein the wireless communication device is configured to: transmit, toa second wireless communication device, a transmission grant indicatinga transmission period; transmit a configuration indicating a pluralityof reference signal symbols within the transmission period and anassociation between a plurality of starting locations and the pluralityof reference signal symbols, wherein the configuration indicates a firstreference signal symbol time density in a first portion of thetransmission period and a second reference signal symbol time density ina second portion of the transmission period, wherein a first subset ofthe plurality of reference signal symbols in the first portion arespaced apart from each other by a first offset, and wherein a secondsubset of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the secondportion are spaced apart from each other by a second offset differentfrom the first offset; monitor, in response to the transmission grant,for a communication signal from the second wireless communication devicein the transmission period; and identify, upon detection of thecommunication signal, a starting location of the communication signalfrom among the plurality of starting locations within the transmissionperiod.
 2. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein theassociation is based on at least one of locations of the plurality ofreference signal symbols within the transmission period.
 3. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 2, wherein the association is based on anumber of the plurality of reference signal symbols in the transmissionperiod.
 4. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein thewireless communication device is further configured to: monitor for areference signal associated with the communication signal from thesecond wireless communication device at one or more of the plurality ofreference signal symbols.
 5. The wireless communication device of claim4, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to:identify the starting location of the communication signal based on adetection of the reference signal and the association between theplurality of starting locations and the plurality of reference signalsymbols.
 6. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein thewireless communication device is further configured to: determine thefirst reference signal symbol time density in the first portion of thetransmission period and the second reference signal symbol time densityin the second portion of the transmission period.
 7. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communicationdevice is further configured to: monitor for at least one of controlinformation or a preamble signal associated with the communicationsignal from the second wireless communication device during thetransmission period, and identify the starting location of thecommunication signal based on a detection of the at least one of thecontrol information or the preamble signal.
 8. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 7, wherein the wireless communicationdevice is further configured to: receive, from the second wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal during a firsttransmission slot and a second transmission slot within the transmissionperiod, the communication signal beginning at the identified startinglocation within the first transmission slot; and recover data from aportion of the communication signal received during the firsttransmission slot based on channel information determined from areference signal associated with the communication signal receivedduring the second transmission slot.
 9. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication device is furtherconfigured to: monitor for the preamble signal associated with thecommunication signal from the second wireless communication deviceduring the transmission period; receive, from the second wirelesscommunication device, the communication signal based on a detection ofthe preamble signal; and recover data from the communication signalbased on channel information determined from the preamble signal. 10.The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wirelesscommunication device comprises a base station.
 11. A wirelesscommunication device, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor incommunication with the transceiver, wherein the wireless communicationdevice is configured to: communicate, with a second wirelesscommunication device, a configuration indicating a plurality of randomaccess opportunities within a transmission period, the plurality ofrandom access opportunities beginning at different starting timelocations and at least partially overlapping with each other in time;and communicate, with the second wireless communication device, a randomaccess preamble signal during a first random access opportunity of theplurality of random access opportunities.
 12. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 11, wherein the random access preamble signal includes aformat that is based on at least one of a starting location of the firstrandom access opportunity, the format including at least a random accesspreamble signal duration.
 13. The wireless communication device of claim11, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to:communicate the random access preamble signal by receiving, from thesecond wireless communication device, the random access preamble signal.14. The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the randomaccess preamble signal includes a format that is based on whether thetransmission period is within a transmission opportunity (TXOP), theformat including at least a random access preamble signal duration. 15.The wireless communication device of claim 14, wherein the formatincludes a first random access preamble signal duration when thetransmission period is within the TXOP, wherein the format includes asecond random access preamble signal duration when the transmissionperiod is outside of the TXOP, and wherein the first random accesspreamble signal duration is shorter than the second random accesspreamble signal duration.
 16. The wireless communication device of claim11, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to:transmit, to the second wireless communication device, the random accesspreamble signal at a transmit power level determined at least in partbased on a duration of the random access preamble signal.
 17. Thewireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the wirelesscommunication device is further configured to: communicate theconfiguration by transmitting the configuration to the second wirelesscommunication device.
 18. The wireless communication device of claim 11,wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to:communicate the configuration by receiving the configuration from thesecond wireless communication device.
 19. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication device comprisesa base station.
 20. The wireless communication device of claim 11,wherein the wireless communication device comprises a user equipment.